WATCH: New title for weightlifting 'wunderkind'

Tuesday 08 October 2019

A 15-year-old weightlifter has added a British Champion title to her long list of achievements after breaking new records at the British Age Group Championships.

In the last 10 months, Charlotte Neale has become a champion at the Regional, National and now British level.

Whilst competing at the British Age Group Championships, the highest level in Britain for lifters aged up to 23, at Oldbury Academy at the weekend, Charlotte also broke her own record with a 60kg 'snatch.'

The 60kg marker had been a long-time target of hers, and she managed to find the extra strength required to improve her former record by just one kilo. She also lifted 72kg in her 'clean and jerk.'

"We were very confident going into the British Championships, with Charlotte already being selected for GB, that we were aiming for a the Championship title rather than chasing numbers which requires a slightly safer competitive strategy," John Scriven of the Jersey Sport Foundation said.

"The pressure was on however as British Champion was the only title Charlotte didn’t have. There were a lot of very good athletes there, but Charlotte maintained her composure and won by a very convincing 10kg over second place."

"Due to her numbers, it meant that she actually competed with the U23s/U21s and U17s where she pushed them very hard," Mr Scriven added. "The British Championships concludes our national level competition for this year, and what a year! We will now focus on preparation for her international debut in December."

Charlotte’s latest successes come just one week after her historic selection for Team GB for the European Youth Championships in Israel in December.

She is the first Jersey athlete to be selected to represent Great Britain in weightlifting.

She previously made history in August 2018 as the first the first Jersey athlete to take part in the British Junior Championships, where she earned a Silver medal.

The teen’s achievements are made even more impressive by the fact she only started lifting weights in April last year, as part of the JSF’s 'Power to Podium' Programme), which aims to prove Jersey can produce athletes able to compete at high level with a good coaching environment and the right system behind the athletes.

Pictured: Charlotte will be representing Team GB in Israel later this year.

In the past 18 months, the young girl has been exceeding expectations, scoring Gold medals, new records as well as Champion titles in several competitions. 

In July, she added another Gold medal to her collection, snatched three new British records and increased her personal best by 9kg all in one fell swoop at the Bethnal Green Weightlifting Club. 

The teenager will now be focusing on her next target: the European Championships.

She will be working on her strength and speed to improve her lifts ahead of what will be her first international competition.